In the collaborative consumption space with startups like Airbnb and TaskRabbit, Getaround is a car rental market place where you can rent a car by the day, hour or week through a smartphone app. Getaround’s all inclusive package, which includes insurance, 24 hour roadside assistance, a Getaround car-kit, iPhone app and a web app makes it easy for people to conveniently car share any where.
Getaround is in the same space as RelayRides and Zipcar, but has some competitive advantages. Unlike ZipCar, which has a $85 sign up fee, Getaround is free to join and car owners can instantly rent their cars without any additional fees other than the rental charge. RelayRides gets people to donate their personal cars, whereas Getaround is a peer to peer marketplace, and hinges on yield management, tapping into the community of unused inventory in order to get its product base.
“There are over 250 million personal vehicles in the U.S and they sit idle an average of 22 hours each day,” said Getaround co-founder Sam Zaid.
Says co- founder Jessica Scorpio, “Getaround gives people more choices, going far beyond traditional rentals to provide more local and affordable alternatives. We’ve also found that our members like the “community building” aspect, where Getaround connects them with people who share similar values and interests. As an added benefit, we help people protect the environment by sharing resources, taking unneeded cars off the road and reducing traffic and auto emissions through better planning.”
Getaround is today announcing its official launch, starting its nationwide rollout based on where the most demand is. It’s also launching the production model of its Getaround Carkit (a keyless remote), which interfaces with the new Getaround iPhone app to let anyone peer to peer car share in minimal time by allowing you to easily unlock member cars. Getaround also announced a partnership with Berkshire Hathaway.
Getaround monetizes by collecting payment from the renter, keeping a 40% commission and returning 60%. The company’s future plans include expanding into more receptive markets in addition to the US roll our, forging key partnerships and moving to other mobile platforms beyond the iPhone.
Judges’ Reactions
Chris Sacca: Yeah, this was a holy shit moment, I always regretted missing AirBNB …
Howard Lindzon: We’ve talk about bubbles and not bubbles, and this is why we’re NOT in a bubble … I think we want to smile when we see these things and this is why we’re not in a bubble. This product makes you smile.
Bijan: I loved every bit of it ..
Sacca: You send me that little kit thing?
A: We send you two things, do key swamp or, car kit, and we send you an insurance card. You can install the automatic key function yourself.
Q: Does thing just get me in the car?
A: Just gets you in the car.
Q: What’s the insurance market look like for this?
A: We wanted to build it so there are no risks to the user. If anything were to happen to the car, our insurance would take care of it.
